Within a signaling system 7 (SS7) network, the signaling connection control part (SCCP) protocol is used for accessing databases and other entities within the network. The SCCP protocol also provides an advanced addressing capability where a subsystem is represented as an array of digits known as a global title address. By utilizing global title translation, the SS7 point code (PC) and subsystem number (SSN) of a final destination are not required to be known by the message originator. All the originator is required to know is the called party dialed digits and the address of a node that can perform the global title translation. Global title translation is commonly employed to locate databases that provide 800 number toll free and caller ID services within telecommunications networks. Depending on network topology, global title translation processing is typically performed at a signal transfer point (STP), a signaling gateway (SG), or a service control point (SCP) where one network makes an inter-connection to an adjacent network.
The addressing information used to facilitate message routing at the SCCP level commonly includes a destination point code, a subsystem number, and optionally a global title. If a destination PC and SSN are not specified in the SCCP portion of an SS7 message, global title translation may be used to resolve a global title address (GTA), translation type (TT), and/or global title indicator (GTI) contained in the message to a destination point code and subsystem number.
In addition to called party global title translation where global title translation is based on the SCCP called party address, methods for calling party global title translation have been developed. For example, in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/397,774, filed Mar. 26, 2003, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, methods for performing calling party global title translation are described. In addition to performing called or calling party global title translation, there may be a need to combine these methods. However, there is currently no implementation known that combines calling and called party global title translation. Moreover, there may be a need to perform different types of global title translation based on the originator of a message. However, conventional global title translation requires that the same type of global title translation be performed for all signaling messages that require global title translation. Accordingly, there exists a long felt need for selecting a global title translation mode based on an originator of a signaling message and performing global title translation according to the selected mode.